Printing on both sides of a media sheet, also referred to as duplex printing, is a desirable feature in printing systems. The advantages of duplex printing include reducing the amount of paper required compared to one-sided printing, and generating layouts resembling that of professionally printed books. In conventional duplex printing systems, a media sheet is fed along a media path that includes a print zone and first-side printing is performed in the print zone. After a programmed pause to allow for the first-side to dry, the media sheet is then fed into a duplex handling system which flips the media sheet and returns the sheet to the print zone for second-side printing. The entire media sheet is advanced through the print zone before the programmed pause is activated. The programmed pause is based on the drying time required for the worst-case scenario in which the entire first side is printed with data. Thus, even if only a top portion of the media sheet is printed on the first side, the entire sheet still has to be fed through the print zone and second-side printing is delayed for longer than the required drying time.
There remains a need for a duplex printing method that can improve the throughput for printing on both sides of a media sheet.